2014 Kia Sales Set New Full-Year Record

While many of us may have woken up on New Year’s day with regrets about the decisions we made in 2014 (or, at the very least, the night before), Kia Motors America probably doesn’t need to make many resolutions for 2015. That’s because, according to new 2014 Kia sales figures, the Korean automaker just had its best-ever full-year sales.

In 2014, Kia sold a record 580,234 vehicles, up 8.4% over 2013 sales, and 4% better than the company’s previous best-ever year in 2012. A record 45,587 of those 2014 Kia sales came during last month, when the company finished the year strong with its best-ever December.

Sales were lead by the Optima, which sold a record 159,020 units in 2014 (and 9,474 units in December), and the Soul, which saw its sales increase for the fifth consecutive year.

2014 saw the introduction of an all-electric version of Kia’s popular Soul

“Kia’s momentum consistently outpaced the industry throughout 2014, and we finished strong with showroom traffic surging in December thanks to rising consumer confidence, historically low gas prices, and one of the youngest and best-looking lineups in the industry,” said Michael Sprague, Kia’s executive vice president of sales and marketing. “More customers turned to Kia last year than ever before as we celebrated our 20th anniversary in the US, and our record-breaking performance demonstrates the speed at which our brand has transformed and matured into a proven leader in design, quality, technology and value.”

Last month we noted that LeBron’s endorsement hadn’t done much to improve sales of the K900 luxury vehicle, with only 69 K900s sold during that month. Well, they jumped up to 93 units sold in December, so perhaps the investment in LeBron is paying dividends now.